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VT Speed: O’Donnell muscles his way into T-Road point lead

Burlington
Published 11:30 p.m. ET July 23, 2015

Derrick O’Donnell of North Haverhill, N.H. celebrates his Mid-Season Championship victory at Thunder Road in Barre on Thursday.(Photo: vtmotormag.com photo)

BARRE – Derrick O’Donnell won his third feature of the year at Thunder Road International Speedbowl on Thursday night, and it came at the right time.

Double points were on the line for the Times Argus Mid-Season Championships, and North Haverhill, N.H.’s O’Donnell turned a 12-point deficit into a 26-point surplus by the end of the night. Winning both his qualifying heat and the 75-lap main event — combined with an early struggle for title rival Nick Sweet — helped the cause.

Hometown underdog Mike “Beetle” Bailey didn’t make it easy for O’Donnell as he made a bid for an upset victory. Bailey led form lap 25 until O’Donnell was able to squeeze him down after a late restart and nose ahead on lap 64. Bailey put the pressure back on, leaning on O’Donnell on laps 66 and 67 as the smoke flew before settling for the runner-up spot.

“I just knew I had to get by him because I had quite a stack-up behind me with Cody [Blake] and Nick [Sweet],” O’Donnell said. “I had to put everything into it to try to get the win.”

A three-car wreck on lap 49 eliminated second place runner and early leader Jason Allen, third-place John Donahue, and fourth-place Matt White, making way for previous point leader Sweet and number-three man Blake, both of Barre, to enter the picture.

Blake made his way into third place, and Sweet — who suffered transmission trouble during the night — came from 18th starting position to finish fourth. Milton’s Scott Dragon rode the outside lane to finish fifth, followed by Boomer Morris, Kyle Pembroke, Dave Pembroke, Phil Scott, and Shawn Fleury.

Joe Steffen of Grand Isle won his second Tiger Sportsman feature of the season in a 50-lap extra-distance race. Steffen started fourth and avoided early carnage to cruise to the win, just days after becoming a grandfather for the first time.

Dylan Payea of Milton finished a hard-fought second. Defending champion Jason Woodard of Waterbury finished third to unofficially retake the division point lead. Brendan Moodie and rookie Stephen Donahue completed the top five.

Jaden Perry of Hardwick came from 14th starting position to win the 35-lap Street Stock feature. Rookie Matt Smith crossed the finish line in second place but was later disqualified in post-race inspection. That put Bunker Hodgdon and Donny Yates, who battled for the lead for most of the race, into second and third, respectively. Kyle Streeter and Jamon Perry, the winner’s brother, were next in line.

Modified 100 washed out at Devil’s Bowl: Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven has postponed its event for Friday night, which was scheduled to be the track’s first-ever appearance by the Valenti Modified Racing Series. Rainy forecasts through the early evening forced the call.

Devil’s Bowl will return to action on Friday, July 31 at 7:30 p.m. with a full four-division card and kids’ racecar rides.

ACT Points race returns Saturday: The American-Canadian Tour championship schedule returns on Saturday after more than a month off, as the Late Models roll back to Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway. New Hampshire drivers Wayne Helliwell Jr. and Joey Polewarczyk Jr. sit 1-2 in the standings; Polewarczyk won the ACT season opener at Oxford in April.

Former Oxford weekly regulars Jeff White and Travis Stearns rank third and fourth in the standings, followed by fellow Mainer Brad Babb. Nick Sweet of Barre is sixth, with East Montpelier’s Emily Packard seventh.

Also on Saturday, Bradford’s Bear Ridge Speedway hosts the Sprint Cars of New England and double DIRTcar Sportsman Modified features beginning at 6 p.m., while Airborne Park Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y. has its double-points Mid-Season Championship event at 7 p.m.

Justin St. Louis is a motorsports journalist, publicist, broadcaster, and former driver. Contact him at jstlouis1315@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Justin_StLouis